Digital asset management vendor Southpaw Technology announced last week that it is releasing its TACTIC software as open source.
TACTIC, which had been targeted at digital content creators, is being released under the Eclipse Public license, which is generally considered less restrictive than the more frequently used GPL. This allows any individual, team, department or enterprise to download the TACTIC software for free and start using it for projects. Southpaw will continue and expand its support packages and professional services, as well as offer a commercial license for any organizations that prefer or require such licenses.
TACTIC Team and Enterprise Editions
Initially, the open source version is available in a new product called TACTIC TEAM, which is a desktop solution designed for small teams and for a company’s evaluation of the product’s core features. After a company is comfortable with TACTIC TEAM, it can then download and use the more robust TACTIC ENTERPRISE, with or without help from Southpaw.
To assist users, Southpaw has created several tutorial videos, and has launched a community forum for sharing usage tips, code and add-ons. Companies that want assistance in customizing TACTIC for their needs can utilize Southpaw’s Premium Support and Professional Services.
In a statement accompanying the announcement, CEO Gary Mundell said that “it’s time to re-think how companies approach asset management, project management and workflow.”
He added that removing the “restrictive licensing fees is a win-win for everyone,” as customers get access to “a very mature and very flexible production asset management solution” that they can adapt to their internal needs, without restrictions.” When assistance is needed, Mundell noted, “they can come to the TACTIC experts, us.”
Why TACTIC Went Open Source
CMSWire talked to Southpaw Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer Remko Noteboom to find out why the company took this major step.
Over the seven years that the commercial version of TACTIC has been out, Noteboom said, it has been adopted by a variety of departments within some organizations. This has happened, he said, even though TACTIC was originally developed for the computer graphics and visual effects world, and the workflow, “from conception to final product,” reflects those origins.
But, Noteboom pointed out, the software product “wasn’t expanding to other departments” in some organizations because there were questions about licenses. The company talked with some of its customers, and “almost universally they were looking at needing more licenses.” Southpaw “did issue site licenses,” he said, “but it depended on the size of the company,” it could get fairly complex fairly quickly, and some smaller companies could not afford site licenses.
At the same time, Noteboom said, Southpaw found that the percentage of its revenue from support and services “was steadily increasing as a portion of our total revenue.”
“By going open source,” he said, “TACTIC can now see much greater growth” into new departments at existing customers, as well as into new organizations, which will correspondingly bring a larger growth in support and professional services.
Continue reading this article:
Source : cmswire[dot]com
No comments:
Post a Comment